Come Back To Me
by DarkBelieverAnge
Summary: He forgot who he was, and so forgot his family. She fought to make sure that would never happen to their children. His memory comes back in chunks, and he remembers. Zack x Tifa one-shot. Rated T for safety.


She hated working late. Owning a bar, however, made it impossible for her to not work into the wee hours of the morning. At least she was respected enough that the patrons left at last call, not an hour afterwards. The clean up never took too long.

She was assisting with clean up when her phone rang. She smiled when she saw her husband's number, and answered the phone. "You've been gone two weeks. Are you coming home soon?"

"Tifa," an unexpected male voice answered. She froze her hands. "There was an accident."

"What? Where is he?" she asked. She started trembling. "Why did you answer, Angeal?"

"We… ran into some trouble. We were brought…" Angeal gave Tifa the hospital name. She rushed upstairs to her apartment and woke her oldest child up. She shook him and he blinked at her a few times.

"Mom?" he asked tiredly. She saw his thirteen year old eyes look at her in confusion.

"I'm going to the hospital. Aunt Yuffie is around the corner if you all need her. I'll hopefully be back when you wake up." she kissed him and he fell back asleep.

* * *

Tifa walked as quickly as her six month wide pregnancy belly would allow her. She made it to the ICU in the main Shinra hospital. Angeal stood in the waiting room, his eyes fixed on the door Tifa walked through. He walked over to her and she wiped tears from her eyes.

"He's in surgery right now. He… took a shot for Cloud." Cloud sat in one of the seats, with his head down and two bandages on his right arm. Tifa sat down beside him and gave him a side hug. They sat in silence until a surgeon came out.

He nodded to Angeal, and then knelt before Tifa. "We got the bullet that was in his shoulder, but our concerns are for the fall he took. It was substantial enough to cause some brain damage… we don't know what's going to happen. You can see him now, though."

Tifa thanked him and waited until he left. She motioned for Angeal to talk with her. Angeal leaned close to her. She whispered, "Brain alteration was a possible side effect of the new regimen he was on, right? What if…"

"You can't say 'what if' yet," Angeal told her. "We need to see his current state first."

Tifa nodded and they walked to Zack's hospital room. They sat by his side until he blinked a few times. He looked at Angeal and said, "Angeal… what's going on?"

He looked at Tifa, and blinked a few times. "Who're you?"

Her hand shot to her mouth. Their eyes kept contact for a few minutes and she said, "You don't know who I am?"

"I've never… seen you before." He looked nervously at Angeal. "Who is she?"

Tifa wiped a tear from her eyes. "I'll be outside."

Angeal nodded and talked with Zack for a few minutes. Tifa paced the hall and a nurse came up to her. "Thank you for your service."

"That was a long time ago," Tifa told her. The nurse smiled. "I didn't do anything but…"

"You helped get our people a fair voice on their council," the nurse whispered. She spoke of the Shinra Council, what served as a form of government for their city. Each sector was represented due to Tifa and Barrett's advocating for them. "Because of you… we have a chance for equality."

Tifa looked down at the floor. She felt a tired smile. "We're not there yet."

* * *

Angeal came out of the room after the doctor spoke to her. Tifa looked at him sadly. Angeal hugged her. She wiped her tears away. "I'm going to say goodbye to him."

"He's sleeping right now," Angeal said quietly. Tifa nodded and went into Zack's room. She took his hand, and brought it to her cheek. She kissed his cheek and brought her lips to his ear.

"Remember me, us," she whispered. "I'll wait for you… no matter what, I'll always wait. I love you. Come back to me."

She softly kissed his lips and walked out of the room. Tifa glanced at Angeal. "My children will have no part in SOLDIER. Hojo will never lay his hands on them. Promise me, Angeal."

"I promise," Angeal told her. She nodded and walked out of the hospital. As she got to the parking garage, the sun rose.

* * *

"Either you agree or your corporate sponsors are backing out on three of your major projects," Tifa said into her phone a few hours later. "Yes, Rufus, I won't budge. I want this in a contract and for us both to sign it. Thank you."

Rufus Shinra arrived at her home a few hours later, with his lawyer present. Hers was as well, and they signed the contracts. Rufus looked at his lawyer, "Per this agreement, no person unaffiliated or affiliated with Shinra can approach your children or their descendants about the SOLDIER program or any other genetic enhancing experiments. You have express wishes for the children to never have contact with Professor Hojo or any project that he or his staff are involved in. With all of that, you exchange your control of our corporate sponsors to me."

"I give you 55% control," Tifa told him. He nodded. "It is my only income right now. I won't go against your decision, as long as this contract is valid."

They shook hands and signed the contracts. Her lawyer took a copy, gave her one, and then Rufus did the same. He nodded to her. "See you at the next board meeting."

She bid them farewell. She looked at her lawyer in relief. He smiled. "If you need anything, please reach out to me."

She nodded and bid him farewell.

*Five years later*

"Mom!" an eighteen year old version of Zack with Tifa's coloring rushed into her bar office. "I got in! I'm going to Wutai for my apprenticeship!"

She smiled as Flynn hugged her tightly. They separated and she touched his cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

Flynn smiled an achingly familiar smirk and Tifa's heart skipped a beat. She pulled him close again and squeezed him tightly. He patted her on the back. His sister raced down the stairs. "Mom! Rafi got into the cookies!"

"Seriously? You used to do it all the time, Tanya," Flynn laughed as Tifa's miniature walked over and put her hands on her hips. Tifa looked down at the ground and smiled. Her thirteen year old daughter had her mother's look and attitude, but sometimes her father's charm. Rafael, her ten year old version of Zack, came strutting into the room. He smiled brightly at his mother, and she shook her head. His expression became sad.

"No dessert for you the rest of the week," Tifa told him. He pouted and started to cry. She gave him a stern look. "No. You go into the cookie jar right after breakfast, you know the consequences."

"MOMMY!" a girl's voice screamed from Tifa's apartment. Tifa sighed and walked up the stairs to see what her five year old pixie with Tifa's hair and Zack's eyes was yelling about. She walked into the kitchen and saw her daughter pointing to the cookie jar. "I want one!"

"Nope," Tifa said and walked out of the room. Her daughter stomped after her and Tifa found Marlene, who was supposed to be watching the children. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow when Marlene looked up from the couch. Marlene smiled guilitly.

"They ganged up on me," she admitted. Tifa nodded and then sat down next to her as the five year old, ironically named Ana, and her daughter was never full of mercy when her siblings were ganging up on her. She would rat them out in a heart beat, and with an angelic smile on her face.

Flynn gathered up all of his siblings, and called over his shoulder, "We're getting ice cream."

Tifa sighed and watched them all walk down the stairs. She heard Tanya start to complain about the temperature, and Rafael laughing at her. Tifa turned to Marlene. "Guess I need to get back to planning a retirement party."

"Why's he having it here?" Marlene asked. Tifa laughed and shrugged.

"No idea. He does what he wants," Tifa said. She walked down to her office, where Denzel was setting down his bags. They smiled at each other and she handed him some paperwork. She cursed. "That boy wormed his way into getting them dessert."

* * *

Zack Fair wandered the streets of Sector Seven regularly. He'd come to love the neighborhood, though his friends in Sector Two would be aghast to hear that. There was a liveliness present in the low to middle income neighborhood that was absent in his own. The neighborhood looked out for each other.

He knew something was happening, changing inside of him. He felt restless, the nightmares plagued him. He would wake up sweating, a name formed on his lips that he did not know.

" _Come back to me," her voice said softly against his ear. He felt her kiss his cheek, a tear drop onto his shoulder and a kiss into his palm. He urged his body to get up, run after her, but it was no use. He was immobile. Every limb felt like it was on fire._

 _He heard voices he had not in a long time. Reeve was talking with Tseng by him. "We have to remove it… can that get done here, without Hojo knowing?"_

" _We don't know what can happen," Tseng muttered. He heard Reeve scoff. "We can't take the risk."_

" _We will, to help him remember his past… and secure his future happiness," Reeve commanded. The door closed as the men walked away. Zack felt his brain tire, and slept again._

He had physical therapy after he woke up from the gunshot. He relearned many things, which he now wondered was an effect of a surprise surgery. His dreams, on top of that memory fragment, puzzled him.

 _He stood on a beach, looking out at clear sapphire water. He felt her arms reach around him and her lips kiss his shoulder. "I wish we didn't have to leave."_

" _They're waiting for us at home," he said back. She shook her head. "You don't want to see them?"_

" _I've loved the silence," she admitted. "It's never been just us… and with our next one on the way…"_

 _He turned, and saw brown hair. Her eyes were blurred, but he knew the feel of her cheek and lips. Her laugh echoed and bounced between his ears._

 _._

 _They were younger, with her belly protruding with pregnancy. She sat on a bench, tears slipping down her face, and he handed her a handkerchief. She groaned as she tried to get up. "We shouldn't have to… no one should go through this. We've lost too much. No person is important than another."_

 _Faces he recognized came into view. A young man with blonde spiky hair nodded, and Aerith sat next to him. Others, like Rufus Shinra, Angeal and the other generals, sat around a propped up picnic table. The young woman stood up._

" _This ends with us. Sephiroth gets the care he needs, and we broker peace. Too many lives have been lost," she told the group. She looked at Rufus. "You and I'll develop a way to have everyone represented, and present it to the nation's leaders."_

" _Even with your son almost on his way out?" Rufus asked her. She nodded. He sighed. "You're one stubborn woman."_

" _I'll give birth on the road, if need be," she returned. She rose up, and looked at him. Her red eyes smiled tenderly. "We'll do this together?"_

" _Always," he said. "I'll go wherever you lead… Teef."_

" _What's your little one's name?" the black man with the gun asked. Barrett._

" _Flynn, after the last person who died," Zack stated sadly._

He blinked quickly as tears formed. He wiped them and looked around. He stopped in front of a bar, and looked in the window. She stood behind the bar, laughing at a joke someone said. _Tifa._

His brain pounded and he cursed as he lowered himself against the building's front. _Flynn, Tanya. Raphael._

He rose and walked into the bar. She stopped and he stared at her. He pointed to where her office was. She went with him. She closed the door.

He grabbed her to him. He hugged her tightly. "Tifa… I'm sorry."

She kissed his neck and breathed in his scent. He did the same. They stood quietly drinking in the other's presence. "When? How?"

"I… the last six months," he said. "It's been bits and pieces. Nothing too concrete until today."

She smiled and laughed softly. "Do you remember what today is?"

"Our anniversary," he said without hesitation. She nodded. And sighed a long breath out. "What's wrong?"

"Our son has an assembly soon. He protested the textbooks about the revolution. Said it wasn't accurate or.. 'Too pro Shinra' and wants me to present what I know," she whispered. He looked at her quizzically.

"The one next week?" Zack asked. Tifa nodded. He chuckled. "Hojo wants me to present our side."

She grinned conspiratorially at him. He grinned back. She looked at her wall calendar. "It's also Angeal's retirement party."

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure?" she asked Flynn when they approached his school. "If I do this, you won't have anonymity anymore."

"I don't care about that. I accepted my apprenticeship. No one's going to stop me," Flynn told her.

"I'm so proud of you," Tifa said. He blushed. "You're a lot like your father… sometimes…"

"I love you, too," he whispered back. She ruffled his hair and they made their way to his assembly. He broke off and went with his class. She waited with Zack in the wings. Zack nodded and shook her hand. His head tilted to the right, and she glanced that way. She saw Hojo standing behind, looking extremely pleased with himself. Zack quickly squeezed her hand in warning, and she smiled.

"Tifa Lockhart, and you are?" she introduced.

"Zack Fair, First Class General SOLDIER," he said. He winked at her and they made their way to seats on the auditorium stage. Tifa sat across from Flynn's teacher, who looked at her surprised.

"Miss Lockhart?" he questioned softly. She nodded and smiled at him with a raised eyebrow. "What…"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hojo called out. "I would like to introduce our guests. Tifa Lockhart, representative of Sector Seven on the Shinra Council would like to present first."

Tifa walked onto the stage, and saw her son's calm expression. She looked at his shocked friends. She cleared her throat, and looked at Zack, standing on the side stage.

 _Flynn heard his mother crying in the living room. He glanced at the clock, it read 2 a.m. He snuck out of his room, ensuring that Raphael didn't wake up. He quietly closed his door and then stopped when he saw his father sitting on the couch beside his mother._

" _We can't tell them you remember yet," she was saying to his father. Flynn watched his father nod solemnly. "We have a week before their assembly… it's best to keep the element of surprise. If you're going to challenge Hojo…"_

" _Fine, we'll do as you advise." Zack's frowned, and then looked at a variety of the pictures on their walls. "How much of me did you erase?"_

" _Not all of you," Tifa told him. "You're in the scrapbooks, but everyone who comes here is family. They all know the truth."_

 _He took her hand, and smiled at her softly. "Whatever you want."_

 _Flynn watched his mother's expression soften, a look that had not graced her face in five years. She lightly punched his father's shoulder. "You always say that."_

 _Flynn crept back to bed as he heard his mother's chuckle. He fell asleep with a smile on his face._

"So, most of you do not know me… others do. My name is Tifa Lockhart, I own 7th Heaven, and am a representative for Sector Seven," she introduced. She clicked a button on the remote she was carrying and a picture of her, pregnant with Flynn, and Zack appeared on the screen. "My story is about family. My son was named after the last person who died when Sephiroth went crazy. We decided that we would create a better world for our children, and everyone thereafter… so that they would never fear Shinra like my generation did."

Hojo started turning red. Tifa motioned to Zack, and he walked beside her. "My husband and I worked with people from around our planet to create a panel of representatives…"

Zack smiled. "Who could bring up issues from their homes and then frame them in the worldwide context. They are a collective who have no power in their own countries' policymaking, but make their opinions known about what others are doing."

"We modeled it off of Midgar's council," Tifa added. The students nodded. Tifa clicked for the next picture. She stood with Zack, who was carrying Flynn, Cloud, a very pregnant Aerith, Yuffie, and Angeal. Tifa smiled. "Our family members who said we could identify them in our presentation to you. Every person on this screen was essential in our post-Shinra clean up."

A student raised her hand. Tifa nodded and pointed to her. She rose and asked, "What exactly happened? We were told that people decided to revolt."

Tifa looked at Zack, and he frowned. "No one revolted. Sephiroth was the first to receive an upgraded mako treatment, but it went wrong."

"I went insane," his voice echoed from the back of the auditorium. Tifa smiled widely and jumped off the stage. "I'm over here."

She raced to his voice and hugged him tightly. She quietly talked with him as Zack continued, "The batch affected him neurologically, and he had a psych break… we had to utilize our resources to make sure that he didn't harm civilians. Unfortunately, there were casualties of our actions."

Sephiroth walked up to the stage with Tifa walking slowly behind him. She observed the crowd and shook her head when she saw Yuffie sitting incognito in the third row from the center stage. Yuffie winked at her and Tifa joined the men on stage. The students gaped at Sephiroth, who looked at Tifa for guidance.

"So, we helped him and repaired what we could," Tifa concluded. "Zack and I raised our family to love their community and take advantage of what life offered them."

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "I wouldn't've made it without these two and our friends. I wanted to take this time to announce that today, Professor Hojo's research is going to effectively discontinue. And per a contract made between Shinra and the majority stockholder of our sponsors division, all funds will be invested in recovery of SOLDIER participants and their families."

" _Tifa," Rufus called after her. She turned and he caught up to her. "How do you want this final clause to be enacted?"_

" _Whenever Sephiroth feels he's ready," Tifa said. She smiled. "It's up to him to end Hojo's era."_

Tifa smiled softly and Zack nodded his support. Sephiroth whispered to Tifa, "Don't we have a retirement party to crash?"

Tifa smiled. "He changed his plans again. It's family dinner after this. They should be cooking right now."

"Can I come?" Zack asked. Tifa nodded and he grinned at her. They looked at the crowd. "Any questions?"

* * *

A little while later, the group walked towards Seventh Heaven. Tifa linked her arms through Zack's, and Flynn talked his father's ear off the whole way home. Sephiroth looked around the neighborhood, and pointed to areas that interested him. He and Tifa had a quiet conversation compared to Flynn's animated talk.

When they got to the bar, Yuffie opened the door. "I haven't told the kids yet."

Tifa smiled and watched Sephiroth and Flynn walk in. she looked at Zack and he said, "We ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Tifa muttered. She braced herself. She opened the door and stepped through, with Zack behind her. A hush came over the family and friends gathered.

"Daddy!" Tanya yelled and raced from her seat on the other side of the room. She hugged him from the side tightly. Raphael timidly walked up to him, and Zack pulled his son into his free side. Tifa smiled happily.

Angeal looked at the family and at friends surrounding them. Zack, Tifa, Tanya, Flynn, and Raphael stood close, and Ana rushed to her mother. Yuffie stood next to Cid and Barrett, who was wiping a tear from his eye. Sephiroth stood quietly in the corner, with Vincent watching over the scene.

He watched Tifa lean up to whisper something in Zack's ear. Zack smiled widely and nodded.

 _You came back to me._

 _ **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this AU! I was feeling inspired to write some Zack and Tifa fanfiction, and finally finished it after about five edits… I would put some parts in, remove them, put other parts in, and edit those. I couldn't make up my mind how I wanted it to turn out. This came out as close to what I wanted.**_


End file.
